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Phantoms showcasing skill players
By Greg Gulas
AUSTINTOWN
Youngstown Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen is pleased with his team’s fast start this fall.
Noreen said his hockey team is a hungry, close-knit group that can become something very special, much like his 2012-13 unit that advanced to the USHL’s Eastern Conference finals.
In the middle of an eight-game homestand, the Youngstown Phantoms (6-3-1) are hoping to gain ground on division-leading Cedar Rapids before hitting the road for a three-game trip.
Addressing the Curbstone Coaches on Monday, Noreen said that while it’s a long season, his players have bought into what he and his staff are selling.
“In the past, we’ve won by being physical and scrappy, using players that had a chip on their shoulders who bought into our system,” Noreen said. “This year, the buy-in level is the same but with a higher end skill level.”
Last summer, the three players tied to the Phantoms were drafted during the NHL draft.
Four players with ties to the franchise participated in last month’s USA Hockey’s All-American Prospects Game.
Noreen said that Youngstown has become a stop that scouts are aware of and college coaches look at when recruiting players.
During Noreen’s five seasons in Youngstown (he was an assistant coach during the 2010-11 campaign), nearly 75 players have gone on to Division I college careers with 12 players earning entrance into Ivy League schools.
“Our players are between the ages of 16 and 20 and for many, it’s their first time away from home while playing hockey on a full-time basis,” Noreen said. “We have a young, talented squad that knows what the league is all about.
“They’re a tight-knit group that hangs out with each other, likes each other and two years ago that was the makeup of that team,” Noreen said. “This group has the chance to be that and even more as they go through the season.”
Noreen does not talk championships or playoffs, instead focusing on helping one another with the goal to get better every day.
“The wins will then take care of themselves,” Noreen said. “I’ve had two types of coaches; the one you hate but you learned a lot from and who got the best out of me every night, and the one who wanted to be your friend — nice to hang out with but they didn’t get much out of me nor I of them.
“I want to be in between those two coaches,” Noreen said. “Knowing what makes a player tick, having a great working relationship with them while looking them in the eye and demanding their very best each time they hit the ice.”
Noreen said doing things the right way is very important to the entire Phantoms organization, adding that the USHL has been proactive when addressing the concussion issue.
He also added that fighting has been down on both the amateur and professional levels.
“The good, hard fight between players when fighting for space and then it’s over will be around, but you’re seeing little by little the elimination of the show fight,” Noreen said. “As a league, we’ve been proactive and not reactive while trying to stay ahead of the curve when addressing concussions.
“We have a disciplinary committee that watches every potentially dirty hit. They pass it on to the coaches, who in turn show it to their team along with the discipline being handed down. Avoiding head hits as we continue to police ourselves has been very helpful.”